reflection on PAY IT FORWARD

I made this for my Citizenship class last July

The idea goes this way; you do a random act of kindness to a random person so that the random person in turn does a random act of kindness to another random person. This way a wave effect happens, paying forward to random people the goodness one received. I’d like to better compare it to the ripple effect. When a stone is dropped on quiet water, a ripple is made getting bigger and bigger, spreading farther and farther. It all came from one single stone which started a single ripple. The idea of the little boy, Trevor, is simple, very idealistic and noble. Despite being simple, however, there lies a profound vision of changing the world.

I see Trevor’s idea as the very same thought behind Christian moral principles. The scriptures do not, however, exactly say ‘pay it forward.’ God is the source of all goodness. We receive good things from God and we need to pay it back. But how do we pay back God’s goodness to us? Where is God on the first place?

By obeying God’s law we are paying Him back. I’d like compare the metaphor of the movie to the parable of the Good Samaritan found in the Gospel according to St. Luke (Lk 10:25-37). The scripture says, “Love your neighbour as yourself.” Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan in order for us to understand clearly this concept of charity to the neighbour. In the parable a Priest and a Levite simply passed by a dying man on their way but there was this Samaritan who helped the dying man. The Samaritan used his own oil and wine to treat the man’s wounds; he put him into his own animal and even spent his money so that the man can be taken care of by an innkeeper. Helping a stranger in need is an act of paying back to God. Well, in this case it must be better to term it as paying forward.

In the theological sense God acts as the prime doer of good. We receive from Him then we pay it forward to our neighbours. He is the stone that starts and spreads all ripples. The stranger now sees God’s goodness in the actions done by the Samaritan to him. In turn this stranger is expected, at least in theory, to do good to others in order to pay forward the Samaritan’s charity. In the parable, it is also stressed out that the neighbour one should love as himself could be a random stranger in need.

Charity to neighbour through acts of random kindness is everybody’s obligation. It is the second of the two most important commandments in the Law: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. Could this seemingly utopian idea be practicable?

I believe the idea is practicable but it’s actually difficult. Doing random acts of kindness is very easy to say but really not that easy to do. In order to make the act of goodness sporadic one must start by making an act of kindness that will really have a big impact to the recipient. If the act of kindness is taken as a great deal then there is a big possibility for that person to be inspired and pay it forward. However, pay it forward could also be possible even if it only takes small acts of kindness. It depends on the persons. If the recipient of the act of kindness has the will to pay it forward then it would be good. But the problem is that not all people have this idea of paying forward. I think most people got it to that point and made them establish an organization or a movement promoting the practice of pay it forward. In order to fulfil the vision of changing the world through this movement, everybody must be convinced first to practice the idea of paying it forward.

I guess that it is impossible to achieve the profound vision of changing the world. You know why? Because since the time of Jesus Christ or maybe earlier during the time of Confucius, the idea was already being preached though not directly as pay it forward. Confucius said, “Do not do to others what you do not want them do to you.” Jesus Christ also preached the same message when he said, “Do to others what you want them do to you.” Well, this thought of Jesus and Confucius are not actually directly similar to pay it forward. In this sense there is an expectation of a payback but if looked into a bigger perspective it is also trying to make a ripple effect that when indoctrinated to everybody ends up in the same goal as that of the pay it forward.

The movement cannot make radical change in the world but it can create fundamental changes in the lives of individuals touched by it. There is one blog on the net talking about the practice of pay it forward. According to the blogger it would be easy for one person to do random acts of kindness if it would be set as a goal. I believe that’s true. Goal setting has really made significant effects on people. Making pay it forward as a state of mind would really allow one person to constantly do random acts of kindness.

To start the practice one should make it into a goal for a week maybe to do some random acts of kindness to three random people. Starting this, one should not focus on the idea of changing the world but rather think that it is to make a significant difference in the lives of random people. To change the world may be the ultimate goal but to think that you are just trying to make a difference in an individual’s life more effectively leads to that big dream.

To end this, it would be very important to remember that there are guides present to help us reach our goal. The good news of the Bible is really good and there are also other sources of direction like the wisdom of Confucius and of course the metaphor of the film Pay it Forward.

For us to really be able to pay forward we must first “set our hearts right” (Confucius).